Varsity Basketball

Jillian made the RA Long girls varsity basketball team! It's a young team as she is joined by 5 other freshmen, all from her Lady Warriors tournament team. Her role is primarily as a wing.

They played their first games in a warmup Jamboree against Columbia River and Wahkiakum, losing both, but Jillian made a score.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Everyone had their full of good food at Auntie Greta's house for Thanksgiving. The kids made multiple trips for seconds and thirds, though they were mostly focused on the mashed potatoes and gravy ... their favorite. Here's the "kid's table":

And the adult table:

Turkey Disguise Champion (2X)

For the second year in a row, Tor had won the Turkey Disguise contest at school, with his Starbucks grande iced vanilla latte. He won some prizes, including a gummy Lego set.

Husky Football Game

It was a last minute decision, but with an open Saturday evening, we got the tickets for a nightime Husky football game against Colorado. As usual, we sat in the end zone, but this time in Row 5, which turned out to be a great view. The game was a blowout, winning 54-7.

It was very cold, with Jillian being the coldest. We left halfway through the 4th quarter to get back into a warm car.

Working the Paul Farm

We (minus Jillian, who was at basketball practice) went up to the Paul Farm on Saturday morning to do some work to help out Uncle Jason who just had carpal tunnel surgery. Afterwards, Bridget did some riding on Gracie after a two week absence:

Tor had an eventful day, first helping unload bales of horse feed into the barn with Aunt Dany:

Then, driving the tractor with Uncle Jason as we placed some mats around the horse arena:

And finally, riding Rocky in the arena, and jumping off when Rocky decided to lay down in the dirt:

Lower Columbia Elite 12-1 Volleyball Team

Bridget has been waiting a long time for this, and now she can finally play volleyball. She recently participated in the tryouts for Lower Columbia Elite, a new volleyball club headed up by some former Cowlitz players, and did so well that she was selected to play on the top 12-under (12 Black or 12-1) team. Her first practice was tonight, so she got to meet her teammates and get some skills work in.

Bridget is wearing blue in the photo, getting ready to pass the ball. She is very excited to start this season.

Tor's 4th Grade School Photo

Mom was very happy about Tor's picture this year, since he's giving a nice, happy smile. Tor said this photo made him look "old".

Radfather of the Year

Time for some Mom-recognition! Heather was pulled aside by the PeaceHealth administrators this morning to award her the Radfather of the Year, given to the top employee in diagnostic imaging in the hospital. She earned it!

Fall Fun Open Horse Show

Bridget stayed close to home for the Fall Fun Open Horse Show at the Cowlitz County Fairgrounds. It was put on by the local Strides Horsemanship, and it was packed, with many classes at 20, 30 and even 40 riders. Even with so many, Bridget consistently placed high, earning 12 ribbons (4 firsts, 3 seconds, 1 third, 2 fourths, 1 fifth and 1 sixth). The highlight was her winning the Reserve Champion High Point Novice Overall, and the Reserve Champion High Point Youth 12-Under Western, both of which gave her sashes for her horse, and a flower bouquet.

Bridget rode Handsome, Aunt Dany's horse, for this show, since Gracie was gimpy with a bacterial infection on her forelegs (called "scratches").

It was a very crowded arena, but Bridget managed to steer clear and show well.

The numbers lightened up as the show went on, since it was way behind schedule and went late, past 8:00 pm. At the very end, Bridget was tied with another rider for two of the Championships, so they went to a "ride-off" (just the 2 of them), with Bridget coming on top on one of them.

It was really cold all day, so it helped that Bridget had a new coat to keep warm, and also make her look very professional :).

Bridget's Take:  This horse show was freezing. Fun, but freezing. I definitely missed Gracie, but Handsome did an awesome job pretending to be a beginners horse. I am very proud I won reserve champion, even though I could have won a belt buckle. I enjoyed the horse show, even when it was too dark to see, and so cold my teeth were chattering. 

Hood River Champions

Tor's tournament basketball team The Longview Ballers won the championship in Hood River this weekend. The team that they had beaten handily on Saturday came back to play them again on Sunday, and it was a much more physical and intense game, coming down to the last few seconds. Tor ran the point and played well bringing the ball up the floor each time, facing a lot of pressure from presses and double teams. They earned a medal for their efforts:

Final Freshman Volleyball Game

Jillian's wildly successful freshman volleyball season came to end tonight following losses to Columbia River and Black Hills in the District Tournament. Jillian played great all-around again, and Baby Kennedy was there for it:

Jillian was sad to see the season end. She had a lot of support from teammates, friends and family.

It was a great start to her high school volleyball career at RAL:

Press Clipping

 TDN had a long article about RAL volleyball's win last night, including mention of Jillian:

The match opened up as a teeter-totter affair with the teams trading points back and forth, but never more than two at a time. After Centralia carved out a 14-10 lead the Lumberjills took a timeout and emerged from the huddle like a brand new team. A 15-3 run down the stretch allowed R.A. Long to take the first set, with Jillian Woodruff holding serve for ten consecutive points.

R.A. Long coach Whitney Nailon noted that Woodruff can always be counted on to provide consistency and she has a knack for making big plays in big moments. The freshman finished the night 23 of 24 from the service stripe with two aces.

“Jill is our little rocket. She comes in, she serves, she gets some kills. She’s amazing. I love our little freshman,” Chesley said.

And there were several other pics of Jillian celebrating with teammates:

On to District!

Jillian's RAL Volleyball team won their pigtail playoff against Centralia, 3-1. She had an excellent night setting the ball, and served well, too. Plus, she made a perfect serve receive pass on the final play to seal the win.

They will now play in the District Tournament, starting with #1-ranked Columbia River.

Most Improved

The RA Long Volleyball Team had their awards banquet tonight, and Jillian was awarded the Most Improved, along with a varsity letter.

First Basketball Tournament

It was a rough start, but a good learning experience, for Tor's Longview Ballers team at their first tournament in Vancouver. They ran into some very skilled teams who did things (like zone defense and full court press) that they'd never seen before. Tor did very well, especially with his ball handling. He also managed to score quite a bit, usually layins and short jumpers, after aggressive drives to the basket.

Tor's Basketball Action Pics

One of the parents on Tor's tournament basketball team has a deluxe digital camera that takes amazing indoor action shots. Here's a select few of those:

Josie & Tor

It's been awhile since we've seen Josie Jean, but at Uncle Steve's 80th birthday party, Tor and Josie picked right back up where they left off -- as little cousin buddies.

Halloween 2022

For Halloween this year, Bridget was Dorothy and Jillian was the Wicked Witch (from Wizard of Oz), and Tor wore his inflatable dinosaur costume for the 3rd year in a row. Here they are with Hazel, Ila and Calliope, after trick-or-treating in the neighborhood.

Note that Jillian is wearing a Steph Curry outfit in this photo ... she wore this for school, then changed into her witch costume for the rest of the night, shown here during our visit to Cindy and Hal's:

Pumpkin Carving

The kids pretty much did all of their own pumpkin carving this year, with minimal help from Dad. Jillian and Tor went with traditional faces, while Bridget tried a horse stencil.